The Egyptian city of Ismailia, seated on the western edge of the Suez Canal, serves as the heart of Egypt’s mango-growing culture and began hosting a mango-themed festival last year. Mangoes are gaining in economic importance in the nation. According to data from the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, the country grew over 1.2 million tons of mangoes in 2020.
However, some of its neighbors have picked up the practice as well. Declaring Israel “an emerging mango superpower” in 2016, Haaretz concluded that the country had achieved “the world’s highest yield per acre” of mangoes. Israel started cultivating the fruit in the 1970s, later patenting nine varieties, among them at least one grown in Egypt. The country now has 5,000 acres of farmland dedicated to mangoes alone.
Even Egypt and Israel’s geopolitical rivals have a common interest in mangoes. In 2022, the Financial Tribune reported that farmers in the southeast of Iran cultivated 40,000 tons of fruit a year.
An official in the Turkish city of Antalya, on the Mediterranean Sea, stated last year that farmers in the surrounding area had been growing an even greater annual total—65,000 tons—after beginning cultivation in 2014. The Turkish official added that, though most of the fruits stay within Turkey, the country also exports a number to Iran.
Source: newarab.com